ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. Special Forces Staff Sgt. Gavin Hutchison of Hawaii, second from right, led Filipino troops yesterday as they carried sandbags toward a firing range before live-fire combat exercises in the remote town of Lantawan on Basilan island, southern Philippines. U.S. Special Forces soldiers are on Basilan to train Philippine soldiers in fighting the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, linked to the Al-Qaida terrorist network. Yesterday, Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster, Special Forces chief for the U.S. Pacific Command, told Reuters Television that U.S. troops training the Philippine military may stay beyond the originally planned six months. About 650 U.S. troops, including about 160 from Hawaii, have been in the southern Philippines since January. Wurster did not say how much longer the U.S. troops might stay.
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